Hello, artists!
I'm a VJ in need, drowning in research, and hoping someone out there can bring me some clarity.
I create live video together with live musicians, and I'm looking for a box to record my sets (as my laptop gets pushed to the limit with VDMX, I don't want to just use its record button). The box needs to have:
• Composite, s-video, or (dare I hope) VGA video input
• RCA or mini-jack audio input
• A hard drive, so I don't need to plug it into a computer
• VGA or composite video output and RCA or minijack audio output, so I can monitor what I'm getting
I've been using a TriStar PVR ( http://bit.ly/143eAa2 ), which was great, but has now died. Unfortunately, the manufacturer doesn't make them any more! So I have to find… something new. And that's where I get really confused. The big possibilities are:
There are PVRs like the Hauppage ( http://bit.ly/16h5lVF ) with inputs and outputs. But they all require a computer, and I don't want to drag another computer to gigs.
Then there are DVD recorders ( http://amzn.to/11MhoWr ). But most of them seem incapable of monitoring, which is nerve-wracking.
Next possibility is TV boxes, like the Brite View BV-980H ( http://bhpho.to/12bCu0k ). But it's hard for me to tell if I can make it record with a button-push, or if it has to have a TV program guide to record.
The most promising option seems to be CCTV DVR recording boxes. Some of them ( http://amzn.to/17nn3es ) have BNC outputs (which I could easily convert to composite) and VGA output, which is pretty appealing. But does anyone have experience with how the quality is?
There's also a few oddities. The iRecord ( http://bhpho.to/JyCyPy ), has potential but it's sketchily documented. Coby makes a portable media player with recording features ( http://bit.ly/1205bBC ) but Coby gear is always garbage. The HyperDeck shuttle ( http://bit.ly/MvtXVh )is intriguing, but would require me to do a lot of expensive converting to get my analog signals in and out.
So! As you can see, I've done a lot of research, and it's mostly left me *more* confused. If anyone has advice or experience to share, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!